Abstract
We quantitatively assess seasonal changes in community structure and habitat selection among seabirds in the Scotia-Weddell Confluence region, Antarctica. Additionally, we discuss the biological and physical factors underlying the patterns. Data were derived from strip-transects on closely-coordinated multidisciplinary cruises that characterized the physics and biology during spring 1983, autumn 1986 and winter 1988. We describe for the first time ever for the Southern Ocean seasonal changes in seabird communities in terms of composition, using cluster analysis, as well as relative density and diversity among species. Sea-surface temperature, distance to the pack ice edge and ice type, all physical characteristics of habitat, were the most important environmental variables that affected assemblage composition
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